Golf club grip



, Dec. 27, 1938. A. CUNNINGHAM ET AL 2,141,519

GOLF CLUB C-RIP Filed Jan. 11, 1937 Patented Dec. 27, 1938 ren't orricaE 2,141,519 GOLF CLUB GRIP.

Alexander Cunningham, Glenview, and Robert E.

' Dyer, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 11, 1937, Serial No. 120,014 2 Claims. (01. 273-81) .The present invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly to a hand grip for golf clubs having certain novel features that will be hereinafter more fully explained by means of which the ability of the player using the club to direct the movement of the club such as a putter ina straight line is improved.

In the use of a putter and similar clubs, the player has difficulty'in properly aligning the club and in properly positioning his hands and fingers upon the club so as to maintain this alignment. One tendency, due to this difficulty, is forthe player to grip the club too tightly, thus putting the muscles under tension and interfering with the control he is capable of exercising over the speed of travel and direction of travel ofthe club. It is well known that, if the club handle can be held in the proper position with the muscle's relaxed in the arms, the player has a much better opportunityof-controllingboth the speed and direction of the stroke.

The present invention contemplates the provisionof a hand grip which is so formed asfirst to facilitate aligning the club and the body of the player so that the swing of the club will be in the right direction, and second to cause the hand and fingers of the player to grip the club in such a fashion that the right and left hands will be in opposition to each otherwith the wrists substantially straight and with the hands aligned with the direction in which the club should swing. In the movement of the hands and the club, there is no turning or twisting of the hands that would tend to throw the club head out of line. The positioning of the hands required with the present hand grip is such as to prevent the player from gripping the club too tightly and to prevent him from placing the hands in an improper position.

In carrying out the present invention, it is contemplated to build up curved projections at the sides of the club shaft which projections are in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the club head or substantially so. These projections, however, are so arranged in conjunction with a flat front face on the club as to position the hands, that is, the forward hand and the rear hand of the player, opposite each other with respect to the club shaft, and with the rear hand below the forward hand.

In the description and in the claims, the hands and fingers of theplayer are referred to together as the forward hand meaning the hand on the side of the club toward the direction in which the ball is to be driven, and the rear hand on the' opposite side of theclub. The terms forward and forwardly, when used with respect to the hand grip, mean direction toward which the striking face of the club head faces; conversely rearward and rearwardly mean the direction opposite that toward which'the striking face of the club head faces. For right handed players, the forward hand is the left hand, but, for left handed players, the forward hand is the right hand.

The features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following description reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein- Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a club showing how'the hands of a player gripit;

Fig. 2 is aiview in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front view of the hand llpi -Fig. 4 is a top plan view looking at the club from point 4-4 in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral l0 refers to a golf club head which is carried by a shaft II. The shaft H has at its upper end a hand grip l2 which is the subject matter of the present invention. The club head In, as shown best by Fig. 4, extends at right angles to a fiattened front face l3 of the hand grip 12. This flattened front face l3 extends throughout substantially the entire length of the hand grip l2 and is so positioned as to be readily engageable by a players thumbs as indicated at [4 and I5. The forward hand It of the player engages with the upper portion of the hand grip which is enlarged, as shown best in Fig. 4, on the forward side of the club shaft at IT. The enlarged portion I! is smoothly curved along a line l8 and is rounded as indicated at I9 (see Fig. 4) so as to fit snugly in the palm of the forward hand Hi. The fingers of the forward hand extend around to the back or rear side of the club shaft and are partially covered by the rear hand 2 I.

Below the portion l1 and opposite to it, the hand grip I2 is provided with an enlargement 22 which is quite similar in shape to the enlargement l1 and along the surface 23 thereof. This portion 22 of the hand grip is adapted to seat in the palm of the rear hand 2! and to force this hand out at substantially the same angle as the forward hand It. Preferably, the enlargements l1 and 22 are made such as to produce an angle between the hands and the club shaft that will result in the wrists of the player being substantially straight.

Since the portions l1 and 22 are opposite except that one is higher up on the shaft than the 7' other, it is evident that the hands, in gripping them with the thumbs placed upon the fiat front face l3, will be held ina natural opposed rela-r tion'with respect to each other with none of the muscles used to rotate the hands being put under tension. 7 This positioning of the hands is highly essential in that it avoids any tendency or desire on the part of the player to turn the hands out of this correct relaxed position. With the hands so positioned, the stroke of the club is merely a matter of bringing two opposing sets of muscles into play, no tendency to rotate the club shaft being present. The player inputting, therefore, need only properly align the shaft and club head with the ball and the cup, and then properly align himself with the front face I3 of the club head to be in position to correctly swing the club without putting any appreciable amount of pressure upon the club by the hands. The players can thus relax in putting to a much greater degree than where it is necessary to grip a club shaft.

It will be noted that the hand grip I 2 is enlarged at 24 on the forward side. ment performs two functions. It provides a wide support for the thumb 14, making it easier to position the hands on the'handgrip, and in addition it builds up the edge '25 opposite the edge 23 so that the edge 25 positions fingers 26 of the rear j hand much in the same fashion as the fingers 20 are positioned by the portion 21 opposite the enlargement l1. a

From the above description, it is believed that the construction and advantages of this device will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art.

It is also believed to be obvious that minor modi- This enlarge:

fications may be made from the exact details shown and described without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims;

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A golf club having a head and a shaft for Said head, a hand grip on the shaft having a flattened front face, said hand grip having upper and lower rounded enlargements at the left hand and ,1

right hand edges of said flattened face, the left wardly from the center line of the shaft than the right hand enlargement is extended rearwardly from the center line of the shaft whereby the fingers of the left hand of a player when fitted inside the upper portion of the right hand combine with the right hand enlargement to force the upper portion of the right hand out at substantially the same angle to the shaft as the upper enlargement forces the upper part of the left hand to take with respect to the shaft. 2. The combination in a golf club of a shaft, a head at one end thereof, a hand grip on the other end thereof, and having means thereon directing the forward and rear hands of a playerv into opposite positions, said means comprising a forwardly directed enlargement at the forward side only of the grip for seating in the palm ofthe forward hand, and a rearwardly directed enlargement at the rearward side only of the grip and spaced below the first named enlargement for seating in the palm'of the. rear hand, said enlargements cooperating to spread the palms of the players hands apart and thereby restrain rotative displacement of the hands with respect to theforearms.

ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM. ROBERT E. DYER. 

